TMI - For Grandmothers!

My personal source of unfiltered info! From this chatty pair I've learned where
mommy hides the birthday gifts, which brother doesn't pick up his dirty socks,
and the identity of the kitty who licked the cupcake frosting! 

TMI. That slangy acronym doesn't enjoy a friendly connotation - often with good reason. I've had "too much information" served to me in the form of a grandchild's graphic description of dismembered insects embedded in a pet's slimy hairball. Then there was that earful in the grocery store line last week - a teen age couple's vivid lament over plans gone awry when mom and dad came home early and "spoiled all the fun."

TMI masterpieces? In those unsettling instances? Clearly!

But I navigate daily life as a grandmother without cause for limiting the amount or depth of information I absorb on topics related to the nurturing of successful family relationships. There's no such thing as TMI in my pursuit of a well built nest feathered with respect, affirmation, and stability for all of us - adult children included. The skills I need to accomplish that formidable task don't always come free, rising to the occasion by instinct! I'm constantly on alert for a quick injection of tips, encouragement, and "Grandma TMI." Some of it I find useful, some I discard. But what a wealth of choice abounds when one knows exactly where to look!

My personal niche is fun - crafts and puppets and baking and scavenger hunts - but what good would it do to stuff closets with glitter and glue sticks if grandkids didn't come to play because mommy can't get along with grandma?.....

Advice from grandma bloggers to the rescue!

Sometimes the key to a solid relationship isn't just "communication." That's too often practiced as one-sided yabbering on disappointments, needs, and suggestions. There's "listening," too, says Lisa at Grandma's Briefs, acknowledging the adage that we're gifted with "two ears...one mouth" for a purpose! "I Say That Shutting Up is Hard to Do" woke me up in more than a few ways. It might be time to curb my voracious appetite for dispensing, and settle into....well, shutting up and listening!

Exchanging thoughts and feelings with adult children for the purpose of mutual understanding can be a "delicate dance," says Donne Davis of The GaGa Sisterhood. Drawing from the expertise of a panel of respected professionals, Davis offers a compelling case for relying on an arsenal of "sensitivity, empathy, patience, and a lot of practice" to build an emotionally safe place anchored with shared trust. I like the definitive check-off summary of usable strategies - no blah-blah-blah ambiguous meanderings here, at Learning the Boundaries of Communication!